Second Chance
by justme1984
Summary: What happened to Eric after Baze & Cate told him to leave town? Where is he now, where is Lux, and will they ever meet again? Story better than the summary. Please read and review. My first fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

Introduction to Shakespeare teacher Eric Daniels was seated on the fourth floor of the University of Minnesota's library. When he wasn't teaching, he spent all of his free time at the third table near the windows over looking the football field feverishly working on his novel. He had always wanted to write a novel, something reminiscent of classic 16th century literature. He knew how risky it would be to publish such a novel, forget about the themes of love, justice, and jealousy. Today's reader wanted sex, drugs, and the illusion of freedom. Freedom, what a joke. He knows all too well that there is no such thing as freedom. He certainly wasn't free, not from his past, not from others' expectations, but worst of all, he wasn't free from her. He had never told anyone that he wanted to write a novel, and yet she knew. Every night she came to him in his dreams and encouraged his passion. Every morning he awoke to a tear soaked pillow.

He tried to get over her, he quit his job and moved back to Minnesota the day after he told Math the truth. He told himself that he was making the right choice, that his leaving was in her best interest. He told himself that what they had, what they felt, wasn't love, but the defense mechanisms of two wounded souls. The weight of the engagement ring he'd kept in his left pants pocket since the day after he took her to the ocean told him otherwise. He took a deep sigh as he took the ring box out of his pocket and nervously tossed it between his hands. If he was free from her, he wouldn't have flown back on the day of her high school graduation, sat in the back row waiting for her to sense his presence, waiting for her to run into his arms with the same bright smile she always gave him. Instead he was greeted by the sight of the woman he loved, the only woman he would ever love, in the arms of another. He shouldn't have been surprised, after all he told her that she should be with Jones.

Fate, now that was something he could write about, cruel, cruel fate. Fate had been cruel to him four years ago when he peeked outside his class room to see her walking by. When he first saw her, he couldn't believe his eyes, he thought he was dreaming again. She looked the same, only older and more mature. Her long wavy blonde hair still partially hidden under a knit cap. Without thinking he called out to her. He watched as she turned towards his voice with a confused, yet hopeful look on her face. He quickly darted back into his classroom. What an idiot he was, it was the first day of school and she was in a new state, nobody knew her name, so of course she was confused. But hopeful? Did she recognize his voice? Was it possible that after all these years she still remembered him, still missed him? He laughed as he thought back to that day. Irony, that's something else he could write a whole book about. It was ironic how much he missed her, even though she was not only in the same state, the same town, but the same school. His heart ached for her every time she absent absentmindedly walked past him in the halls. Realizing that he wasn't going to get any more work done today, he started to pack up his laptop. Off in the distance he heard cheering. Graduation, she was graduating with a bachelor of science degree in child psychology. After tonight, she would be gone, probably out of his life for good, not that she had been in his life the last six years, still seeing her on campus counted for something. He stopped what he was doing and tried to shake the thoughts from his head, he literally shook his head trying to rid his thoughts of her. Well, that's not entirely true, he turned his head to the right and suddenly felt as if a magnet was directing his movements. Against his will his head turned down towards the football field. He saw the graduating class off to the right waiting to begin their commencement ceremony. He faintly heard Pomp & Circumstance begin as the students started to make their way towards the bleachers. He tried to turn away, tried to close his eyes and will away the tears, instead his eyes were fixated as one figure stood still as the others moved around her. She tilted her head up and just for a second he could swear that she was looking right at him.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the day of her college graduation and Lux Cassidy was alone. This really isn't as tragic as it sounds. Lux was used to being alone, used to being bounced around from one foster family to another, used to people seeing her as a paycheck, an object. Until her sophomore year of high school the only person who had ever really seen her was Tasha, her best friend since the age of seven. Lux held her breath as her thoughts started to drift back to her sophomore year.

*.*

That was a new beginning for her, and now she didn't need to think about finding Cate and Baze, her birth parents, or how once they got back together she seemed to take a backseat to their budding romance and careers. She didn't need to think about how hard she tried to fit in. She didn't need to think about meeting Jones, or how her relationship with Tasha became strained because of Jones. She didn't need to think about how all of these people, people who claimed to care about her, even love her, had proven all of her insecurities right and abandoned her again. She couldn't even count on Math and Jamie once they started dating Allison and Fern. Most of all, she didn't need to think about Him.

*.*

Truth be told, she could handle Baze and Cate never having time for her because they had been traveling around the country doing financial talk shows for the last four years. Who would have thought that Baze would not only clean up his act, but that people, famous people, would come to him for advice on how to spend their money? They were currently meeting with the President of the United States to discuss how to get the country's debt under control. Surely Lux understood how that was more important than them seeing their only child graduate college.

She could even handle the fact that Tasha had repeatedly lied to her about her relationship with Jones. She didn't really like him anyways, why would she want to be with a guy who didn't even have the guts to ask her out in the first place?

Who was she kidding, she couldn't handle those facts, that's why she left. After she caught Jones and Tasha together six months after their high school graduation, and only a week after she and Tasha had moved into their University of Oregon dorm together. Lux went back to her parent's house to talk to Cate about how hurt she was by Tasha's actions. She really shouldn't have been surprised though to find no one home. By the looks of it, they hadn't been home at all in the six months she was away at school. She wasn't even sure why she went home, she knew that even if they were there, they wouldn't have had time to hear about her problems.

It was almost laughable how much things had changed, when she first started to get to know Cate and Baze, they had all the time in the world for her. Most of the time it was them who demanded that she talk to them about her day or her grades.

Things started to change once Ryan left Cate for Julia. Cate was devastated that Ryan had lied to her about Julia being pregnant and had turned to Baze for comfort. Things were somewhat civil with Cate and Ryan for a while, he was even at Lux's high school graduation.

Once she had graduated, things changed however, Ryan stopped coming around, stopped calling to check on her. It was as if he had replaced her with his new son Jack. Once Ryan left she had nothing and no one, so she did what she always did, she ran. She ran to the one place where she had always felt loved. The one place she had never been, Minnesota.

*.*

She now stood under her favorite Willow Tree near the football field on the University of Minnesota's campus. She went to this tree whenever she needed to think, which was often. She would sit under the tree and just let her thoughts flow. More times than not her thoughts went back to him. Honestly, she didn't know why she came to Minnesota, it's not like she was expected find him, or expected him to still miss her, still want her. She fell into a routine there though, she would go to her classes, she surprised herself her junior year of high school to learn that she actually liked school.

*.*

Sometimes she would skip class and come sit under the willow tree and stare into the big windows of the library. She was fascinated how the scene never changed. No matter what time of day she was out there, he would always be there. He was there now. She didn't know his name, didn't know his story, all she knew was that she felt a strange connection to him. She was slowly drawn out of her thoughts as she heard the beginning of the graduation march coming from the football field and the commotion of her fellow classmates getting ready to receive their diplomas. She stood up, took one last look at the mysterious man in the window, and was shocked to see him looking back at her.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay, so a few days turned into a few weeks, turned into a month. I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update this story. Between my college courses and a case of writer's block, I just couldn't put words to paper. I apologize for this chapter being so short, I just wanted to get something up quickly to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this story. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for your time, reviews, and patience. **_

Eric was conflicted. He knew he was supposed to stay away from her. Baze and Cate told him that he if ever contacted her again, they would call the police. The question was: were they serious? And did their threat still apply now that Lux was an adult? Sure, he had resisted the urge before, the urge to talk to her, to hug her, to tell her that he missed her. This, this was different though. She was looking right at him, it was a sign. It had to be.

But, what if it wasn't a sign, and just a coincidence? What if she didn't remember him? Didn't miss him? Didn't want him in her life again? No, he couldn't let his fears get the best of him. He had to know, had to take the risk. He couldn't spend the rest of his life wondering, what if. He had spent the last six years wondering. What if he hadn't told Math, would they have been able to keep their secret and stay together? Would her family have accepted him eventually? What if when he had flown back for her high school graduation, found a way to talk to her without her parents getting upset? Would she have left Portland with him? What if he had been something, anything to her in the last four years? None of that mattered though, the fact of the matter was he hadn't, hadn't done any of those things. Hadn't been strong enough to fight for her. He wasn't going to make that mistake again, he couldn't. He had told her once that he wouldn't let her go, and he had gone back on his word. He wasn't going to do it again.

Before his nerves got the best of him, he took out his cell phone and quickly scrolled down to her number. He had thought about getting rid of her number lots of times, but something always stopped him. He quickly typed in a text message and hit send.

*.*

Lux had just received her diploma when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She quickly found a corner where she could answer her phone without distracting others.

She blinked twice as she read the new text message: "Meet me under your thinking tree"- Love, Minnesota. How did he know, she wondered aloud.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm on a bit of a roll tonight, apparently. This next section came together a lot quicker than I expected. Please don't get used to having 2 updates in 1 day. Ha ha. Again, I apologize for the shortness of the chapter, apparently that is just my writing style. Enjoy! **

***.* **

Lux stared at her phone for a good 5 minutes, completely stunned. He was here? He knew about her tree? He had seen her? She had so many questions flying through her mind, that she almost forgot that she was supposed to be meeting him. Finally, she pulled herself away from her thoughts long enough to run to her favorite spot, back to him.

*.*

Lux stopped dead in her tracks once she saw him. He looked just as he did the last time she saw him six years ago. He was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. She walked up to him and the crowd of her fellow graduates that surrounded him a bit confused. Why were all of these people talking to a perfect stranger. Then again, knowing Eric, he probably just stopped them to congratulate them. One of her classmates saw her as she walked up to the group and said "Hey Lux, it's about time you get to meet Mr. Daniels, remember I told you what a great teacher he is, when I had him for English class freshmen year?"

*.*

Lux looked at Eric and by the deer caught in headlights expression he had, she knew she looked angry. "You've work here?" she asked. "Yes, I've been a teacher here since I left Portland" he said. By now the other students had sensed that this was to be a private conversation and had left the two alone. "Since you left Portland?" "I've been a student here for" "I know Lux, I've watched you, everyday." He said. "You've what? So that's how you knew about my tree? Where? Where have you been hiding while you've been watching me?" she demanded. Eric turned and pointed to the same window of the library that she had spent so much time looking into, wondering who the mystery man that always occupied it's space was. "You. You're him?" "How?" "How could you do this to me?" "How could you look at me everyday and not say anything?" Do you have any idea how much I've missed you?" Do you even care?" "Of course I care Lux, I love you!" Eric exclaimed. "Love me? You love me? When we could have finally been together, when there was nothing, no rules, no laws, and nobody, no Baze or Cate, standing in our way and you say nothing? You do nothing? How can you look me in the eye and claim to love me? You left me! How many times did you tell me that you weren't going to bail on me, that you would do anything for me?" "Answer me!" Lux demanded. Eric's voice started to crack as he spoke "I thought I was doing what was best for you." "Baze and Cate said they would call the police if I contacted you again." "Oh," Lux said "so when you say you thought you were doing what was best for me, you mean for you. You didn't want to risk it, I wasn't important enough, special enough, I wasn't worth the risk?" Before Eric could respond, Lux slapped him across the face and ran away.


	5. Chapter 5

Eric couldn't believe what just happened, he knew she'd be mad but he never expected her to hit him. Who knew that such a tiny girl could be so strong. After a few minutes he started to feel pain forming across his cheek where she had hit him. He knew that if he didn't go put ice on it now there would be a nice mark in the morning and he didn't know how he would explain it if anyone asked. He went home, got some ice and laid down on the couch. His thoughts started to travel back through everything that he and Lux and been through. He wasn't a hopeless romantic type of guy, but he certainly never imaged that "the one" would have been 16, that her family would instantly hate him, or that he would risk everything for her.

He was just about to get up and replace the ice for his face when he heard his cell phone play Adam Stanton's version of "Wish You Were Here". It was her. Eric quickly retrieved his phone from his jeans pocket and read the message; "meet me at the coffee shop on 2nd street in 10 minutes."

He saw her sitting at a table in the back of the café and walked up to her hesitantly. He honestly had no idea how this meeting was going to turn out. He just hoped he didn't get hit again. As if reading his mind she said "don't worry, I won't hit you again." He gave a slight chuckle and sat down. "I'm not sorry that I'm angry with you, but I am sorry that I hit you. " I don't know why you're upset Eeyore, this works both ways." "Eric, I don't understand." " I mean, I highly doubt it is some cosmic coincidence that you ended up in Minnesota. No, you came here for me, and then never even sought me out." "3257 Lincoln Street." Lux said, looking at him with that smug look she used to give him whenever she knew she was right. " How did you know where I live?" Eric asked. "It's called a phone book Eric, I looked you up before I ever left Portland." "So then why didn't you ever contact me?" "I was angry, and confused, and scared." He gave her a look as if to say that he wanted her to continue. "I was angry because you made a huge decision that changed my life forever, without even asking me. You told me you loved me, and then you left, which led me to believe that you really didn't care at all. You didn't even say goodbye. I know Baze and Cate said for you to never contact me again, but a simple goodbye text message would have been nice. I was confused because you told Math. If Math hadn't been such good friends with Baze, he would have told the school, you would have been fired, charges would have been filed, and you would have ended up in jail. Why would you risk all of those consequences if you didn't really care about me? And I was scared because….." "Because what Lux?" "Because I didn't know if I could handle it if you moved on. " Lux looks down at her hands nervously, as she waits for him to tell her that he hasn't moved on, that he's waited for her, that he wants only her. He says nothing. Tears start to form in Lux's eyes. "I almost proposed once, Eric says."


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, first of all, I have been informed that there may have been some confusion at the end of the last chapter in regards to the proposal, that Eric almost made. I hope that it is cleared up a little in this chapter, and more so in the next. Also, this chapter was a collaboration between myself and Jennbear. Any enjoyment in this chapter, should be given credit to her. Thanks Jenn! **

**Enjoy!**

"What" Lux says in disbelief, "What did you just say?"  
>"I said I almost proposed once," Eric sighs heavily looking down at his hands.<br>"Why?" Lux stutter's "Why didn't you?"  
>"Because we weren't ready, because it wasn't right." Looking into her eye's Eric continues, "We both had oceans to see and growing up to do." Sighing he continues "It just wasn't the right time."<p>

Lux's mind kept rewinding the words in her head 'I almost proposed once', so he had moved on, had fallen in love with someone else. Of course he had, he was an amazing guy. She was so stupid for thinking that he would have waited for her. Lux felt like crying. Instead she simply said "well, I'm sure she must have been an amazing woman, and I am sorry that it didn't work out." "She is, she was the love of my life, I will never love anyone the way I love her, and who knows, maybe we'll find our way back to each other." Eric said. "So, what about you and Jones? Are you still together?" Eric asked. "No, we broke up not long into my freshmen year of college." Wait, how did you know about Jones and I?" Lux asked. Instead of answering the question, Eric said "Ah, what do you say about getting out of here?""What exactly do you have in mind?" Lux questions him."I was thinking about a walk?"  
>"That sounds good" Lux says taking a final sip of her coffee and standing up. "Lead the way."<p>

Walking out of the coffee shop Eric turned and motioned for her to follow him; he started walking in the direction of a nearby park. Walking quietly for several minutes it was Eric who finally broke the silence at they walked through the entrance of park, "So why Minnesota? Why did you come here?" He asked, knowing that she came here for him but needed to hear the words  
>"I came here because of you," Lux admitted. "Why?"<p>

"Everything was just so messed up, and I didn't know what to do." Taking a deep breath she sat down, "freshmen year I walked in on Jones and Tasha; they'd been seeing each other for 3 months behind my back before I caught them. After I caught them I, I felt like my world was spinning out of control and I didn't know what to do. I went home but no one was there, everyone was gone." Tear's starting to slip down her cheeks he sat down beside her, "Cate and Baze were touring the country, Ryan was busy with Julia and Jack, even Math and Jamie didn't have time for me. I felt alone; I felt like I didn't belong, I felt lost." Taking a deep breath continues, "And then I pulled out the compass and I remembered you, and I remembered how you gave it to me, 'to help you find your way' the note said." Lux turned and looks him in the eye, "and somehow I felt 'my way' was leading me to you, the compass was leading me to you."  
>Eric brought his hand up to her face brushing her hair back to wipe the tears away, "That's when I looked you up, and found out where you lived. I saw that you lived here in Minnesota near the university and that just reinforced what I already knew; that I needed to be here.<br>"Come here" Eric says quietly pulling Lux into a comforting hug. Once in his arms Lux finally let go, all of the pain of the last 4 years, of being ditched by Ryan, betrayed by Jones and Tasha, of feeling abandoned again by Cate and Baze. With all of the pain finally catching up to her she began sobbing harder burying herself further into his embrace, "Shhhhh, its ok. Let it out. I'm right here" Eric whispered into her ear pulling her tighter against him.

They sat cuddled together for a long time, before Lux spoke again. "Speaking of the compass" Lux said as she pulled something out of her bag. Something, that was wrapped in white paper with green trees on it. "What's this?" Eric asked. "Your Christmas present." Lux said. Eric's hands shook a little as he took the gift from her. He couldn't believe she had saved his gift after all these years. "Somehow I always knew I would see you again, and it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it's probably stupid. " Lux said.

Eric carefully opened the package, trying to not let her see how nervous he was. Once he had the package completely open, he couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh, cry, or both. "John and Sara." he said as he stared down at the silver framed picture they had taken at the wedding they crashed all those years ago. "Like I said, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but it's silly, I know. I'm sorry." Lux said.

" I was there you know." Eric said. "You were where?" Lux asked. "Eric looked at her, and then down at his eyes. He hadn't meant to say that, he just, she had to know. The touch of Lux's hand in his pulled him out of his thoughts. "Eric, you were where?" "Your graduation, in high school. That's why I knew about you and Jones." Lux wasn't sure if she heard him right. He had come back? Had seen her with Jones? She felt as if she was going to get sick. "What did you come back for?" Lux asked. "I wanted to see you, I needed to. I needed to see that you were okay. I….I wanted to give you this." Eric said.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so it's been a few months since I've updated. Sorry about that. I'm slowly trying to ease my way back into this story, although I think there may only be one chapter after this. Also, as it's been so long, I forgot really how to do the formatting/uploading here. lol. Sorry if this is hard to read. Let me know in a review, and I'll see about getting someone to edit before I upload again. Enjoy! **

Eric puts his hand is his pocket and toys with the ring box for a minute. Maybe now isn't he right time for this, but then again, what if he never sees her again after tonight? He can't let her go again, he won't. But, what if she says no? What if she really has moved on? Eric looks to see how confused Lux is by his hesitation, so instead he gets the package out of his briefcase.

"I'm sorry it's not wrapped, I actually bought it the day I ended up telling Math." Eric said. Lux took the Barnes and Noble bag from Eric and pulled out a book "Eeyore you're the greatest" Lux said with a laugh that turned into a sob. "Hey come here" Eric says as he wraps his arm around Lux again. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I just…I've really missed you" Lux said looking into Eric's eyes. "I've missed you too Lux" Eric said with a tone that said he was holding something back. "But what? What aren't you saying?." Lux said. "I'm sorry" Eric said. "I'm sorry with the way things turned out, I never wanted to hurt you. I just didn't want to continue living a lie." he whispered. "I was so in love with you but every thought in my head told me it was wrong and what we were doing was wrong." His voice cracking, "The last person I wanted to hurt was you, but I also had to do the right thing and protect you; even if it was from me."

" I was so in love with you." Lux replayed those words in her head over and over again. She wasn't sure why those words hurt so much, she already knew he had almost proposed, so of course he didn't love her anymore. Still, the words felt like daggers. Instead of letting the tears flow, Lux quickly changed the

subject. ."

"Cognitive Dissonance". Lux said. "What?" Eric asked. "Cognitive Dissonance, you were suffering from it. Eric looked at Lux as if she had sprouted three heads so she continued to explain. " Basically, you were dealing with two conflicting thought patterns. On the one hand you liked me, and wanted to be with me. On the other hand, you knew that it was "wrong" due to what society believes. These opposing thoughts gave my unwanted feelings of guilt, and anxiety. You wanted to alleviate said feelings, so you left." Lux said. " I get it, I didn't then, but I do now. I realize that I was suffering from it as well." Eric still looked as if he either didn't know what Lux was talking about, or just wasn't ready to admit that she was right. Maybe now wasn't the time for this conversation. "I dream about you, the same dream, every night."

Eric looked at Lux completely stunned. He figured that by now he was just a distant memory, if that even. After staring at her, with his mouth hanging to the floor for several minutes he finally asked" what happens in your dream?"

"It's kind of odd actually" Lux said, "you're always in a dark room writing. I'm never sure what you're working on, and although you never speak I can tell that it's important to you and that you're stuck; frustrated. I tell you that I believe in you, and then I wake up." "For how long have you been having this dream?" Eric asks. "For as long as I've lived in Minnesota. Why?" Lux asks. Eric grabs Lux's hand with a sense of urgency and says "come back to my place, I need to show you something."


End file.
